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Barry Newstead: Regrets, I will not be able to attend. There will be significant representation of the WMF Board and staff at the meeting. I am focusing more of my time at the moment on our initiatives in Brazil, India and the Arabic language countries. I am also working with Asaf on the evolution of our grants process and he will be in attendance to discuss this. My travel schedule is already pretty crazy with trip to Brazil (just completed), Egypt (in early Feb), India (late Feb/early Mar) and then to chapters meeting in Berlin (end of Mar).

I can only attend if I cancel my attendance at another wikimedia event (glamcamp dc) the week before, because I can only take a limited amount of time off work (it's not a sure thing that I can even go to the DC event). So I may be able to attend the finance meeting, but would want to check to see if it would be useful in particular for me to attend (versus other trustees) and what the agenda would be. -- phoebe | talk 03:19, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Hi Phoebe, the agenda is being worked on here. Regarding your presence vs. the other trustees, I think the more trustees will be there, the best. I think, as I said, we're gonna have discussions of the utmost importance for the following years. Even if I trust you'll have a great report about the event, it's always best to be there yourself so you can make the best choice in the coming weeks. That, and it would be great having you there :) Hope it helps. Schiste 19:29, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Sorted it out at work, looks like I can attend after all. Looking forward to seeing everyone. -- phoebe | talk 18:09, 18 January 2012 (UTC)

For those of us coming in from across an ocean, would it be possible to get a tour of WM-FR's offices? Get a chance to talk with WM-FR members about how they have handled professionalisation and get guidance on how to do that? --LauraHale 23:32, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Hi Laura. That is a great idea. Let me see if we can arrange that. I'll come back to you shortly. Schiste 19:35, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Moved from main page: "... if the appropriate representatives of the WMF will be participating in this meeting (i.e., as I currently understand the situation, some combination of 2 or more of Stu West [glad to see you've already signed up for this!], Sue Gardner, Jan-Bart de Vreede, Barry Newstead and Geoff Brigham). This meeting is only going to be useful to the Wikimedia community/movement/universe if those in a strategic-decision-making position at the WMF are participating (sadly, unlike the situation at the 2011 Fundraising Summit - although useful on a practical basis, that meeting seriously [and crucially] lacked strategy-level attendance from the WMF). ..." Mike Peel 00:32, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Good to see that Stu, Sue, Garfield, Asaf, Jan-Bart and Geoff have stated that they're willing to come - thanks. :-) Mike Peel 20:15, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

Does anyone have any accomodation details yet? The Land 13:15, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

I am also worried about it. In the registration form I didn't understood exactly if reservations will be done by WMFR and if they also invite us and pay the cost. Please clarify it. In case we have to book the hotel I would appreciate if you could publish ASAP where the venue will be to look for a nearby hotel. If WMFR is doing the reservation but we have to pay the cost please inform us about the prices.--Gomà 13:13, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Hi, sorry if that wasn't clear. WMFr is taking care of the accomodations for all attendees. We've booked the hotel and will pay for it. It's the easiest safest way to avoid any issue and to be sure the meeting is as effective as possible. Sorry if that wasn't clear. We'll also provide for breakfast and lunch. But not for diner, as we wanted everyone to be able to enjoy Paris if they want. Best, Schiste 12:53, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

In the weekend of 17-19 February 2012, 39 delegates of 19 movement organizations, 18 chapters and Amical (30)[1] (mostly board representatives), Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation (5)[2], and Wikimedia Foundation staff (4)[3], convened in Paris to discuss fundraising and funds dissemination, hosted and facilitated by Wikimédia France.

Despite considerable tension surrounding the issues in question, the entire meeting maintained a friendly, collegial atmosphere of collaboration, shared purpose, and mutual respect. We are encouraged and inspired by this, and consider it a strong indication of the possibility of finding agreed answers to these large questions of funds, accountability and governance. Participants agreed they felt they are being heard and acknowledged by everyone else, and a significant amount of trust was regained. Most of the meeting saw participants working in parallel small groups of 6-7 persons, discussing issues of trust, accountability, strategy, entitlement, funds dissemination, and committee models[4]. Additionally, there was a Q&A session with the WMF Trustees present, as well as one with Sue Gardner and one with representatives of the chapters present.

One central topic was the proposed Funds Dissemination Committee, which would be in charge of advising the WMF on larger grants, such as annual operating grants of chapters and other movement organizations. Discussion was exploratory, focusing mainly on exchanging ideas, and dicussing possible issues, based also on experiences with the current Grants Advisory Committee.

An informal discussion was held about the Wikimedia chapters council (WMCC), a body which should be created as a forum for Wikimedia Chapters and Partner Organisations for exchange of ideas and experiences, self-governance, the setting of accountability standards, and peer review.

Similar ideas have been discussed throughout the last several years and the last time it was brought up again and drafted on Meta Wiki was after the Haifa letter, when chapters felt they would need a body for speaking with one voice. The idea soon was abandoned again because of other duties chapters representatives had to deal with (program plans, fundraising, negotiations etc.). [NOTE: I would delete this paragraph, because it focuses on the past rather than results / the future] <--Hmm, I think it's important to note that little priority is given to this because of short term needs. Also it is important to acknowlege the work that has been done, though it may not have been effective (due to those short-term needs, I suppose)

The Financial Meeting in Paris offered a platform to bring the topic up again and to get chapters into the boat. While the last attempt to discuss the WMCC was a defensive reaction towards the Wikimedia Foundation it is today perceived as a tool to improve the collaboration between chapters and set up rules of governance, accountability and peer-reviews among the chapters themselves, making pressure in these directions by Wikimedia Foundation bodies unneccessary.

Wikimedia Deutschland is willing to fund an employee to facilitate the process of designing and setting up the Council. The goal is to come to results during the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin. Until then the chapter representatives will revert to their boards and discuss the idea and come up with a mandate so decisions can be made during the Berlin meeting. Anticipating the next global gathering -- the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin at the end of March -- we commit to further work towards consensus on possible models for the Chapters Council, the Funds Dissemination Committee, and agreed standards of governance and accountability, to inform the decision-making by the board of trustees and the creation of the Chapters Council. <--For models see the Wikimedia_chapters_council page.

We thank Wikimedia France for its generous support and hosting of this meeting, and in particular to Sébastien (Seb35) and Christophe, who oversaw logistics and who stepped in to facilitate the meeting at the last minute. -- The Participants of the Paris Finance Meeting 2012

Do we have an updated estimate on when we will have the reports from the meeting (based on the notes collected by the organizers) up and linked from the page? Weeks have gone by, and the Berlin meeting is approaching, and if anyone who was not present in Paris is to gain anything from these notes, they would best be made available before Berlin. So, any update? Thanks. Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants)talk 04:57, 17 March 2012 (UTC)